Friendship Bracelets
by kurt-york
Summary: He waves good bye sleepily, the friendship bracelet still too big for his wrist, and she waves back, pointing at her bracelet. A silent understanding that they would always be best friends.


She watches, detached because can she really even be connected to it all?

She watches two friends, who like each other as more than friends, flirt in a back and forth banter, and she feels the strange urge to laugh.

Because laughing always made things better, that's why she was in comedy, right?

It's weird, these jolts she feels in her chest when she sees them together. Jealousy was something she never felt.

It's weird because, Tawni always gets everything she wants, doesn't she?

-

She can see why he would fall for her.

Sonny has a classic beauty. She's not typical. She laughs loudly and it's infectious. She's one of those girls you meet once in a life time, so who is Tawni to blame Chad for falling for her?

But Tawni, she's perfect, and she wonders why that isn't enough.

When Sonny's in the room, Chad doesn't even notice her (even if she's wearing a new dress or if she's gotten a new hair cut), because it was all about Sonny.

She stole the show, and his heart.

-

She remembers a time when she and Chad were young.

Their young, rich and beautiful socialite mothers had left them in the play room while they went to mingle in the party.

You would expect their parents to be best friends.

He glances shyly over at her and stutters, "I like your dress."

She smiles because she had picked it out herself.

"Thank you."

She runs her hand along the giant Barbie airplane, "Want to play with me?"

He nods and his face breaks into a smile of childish glee because "the pretty girl wants to play with him".

Soon, the Barbies are married and are whizzing off to a vacation in the North Pole, "cause that's where Santa lives".

Somewhere in between the flight from Los Angeles to the North Pole the fact that they are now best friends is established.

As they grow bored of the game, he pulls out friendship bracelets.

"My mommy said to give this to someone I want to be best friends with forever…so here."

She grabs a hold of the bracelet and it's rainbow colored, the threads interweaving to create an exotic pattern.

It clashes with her outfit, but she likes the way it stands out.

"Best friends forever." She agrees.

Their mothers come to pick them up, carrying them in their arms.

He waves good bye sleepily, the friendship bracelet still too big for his wrist, and she waves back, pointing at her bracelet.

A silent understanding that they would always be best friends.

-

They're teenagers now, and Chad just had his heart broken by a girl, his first girlfriend, Alexis was her name.

He calls her and all he has to choke out is an "it's over" for her to say "I'll be right there".

She knocks tentatively on his bed room door.

"Come in."

She takes one look at him leaning against his bed post and she's never seen him more broken. But it was okay now, because she was there to pick up the pieces.

"Hey" she says quietly, sitting down next to him.

She gives him time because sometimes, Tawni is understanding that way.

"She said," his voice comes out dead and emotionless, "she said that she really liked me, but she just wanted to be friends. But, I know, I saw her with that guy…I'm so stupid."

She places a comforting arm around him and he lets her, because that's what best friends do.

"Hey, if she's stupid enough to let you go, then she's not worth hurting over…"

"Yeah, yeah you're right. I can't believe I actually wasted time crying over her."

"Always the sensitive one, aren't you."

He lets out a half hearted laugh.

She reaches into the plastic bag beside her, "If you're still not feeling fully better, I brought ice cream!"

She whips it out, along with two spoons.

"Cookies and Cream?"

"What else? You think I don't know you?"

This time he laughs, its loud and he feels good.

"Hey Tawni, thanks for being here."

"Hey, best friends forever does mean something, doesn't it?"

He pulls her into a hug and she's enveloped in this selfish feeling of happiness that Alexis broke up with him, because it put her ones step closer to being his.

Chad is pretty sure he's moments away from falling in love with his best friend.

He was right there, an arm's reach away, and she lost him.

-

"I'm coming, I'm coming."

She's irritated by the knock at the dressing room door, upsetting her daily beauty rituals.

She whips the door open and sees a flash of blonde and the glint of white teeth.

"Oh," she laughs, and it comes out strange and unnatural, "Sonny's still getting ready, why don't you come in?"

He walks inside and perches himself awkwardly on the couch.

"So…how are you?"

"Oh, I'm good, you know…just doing my thing."

The conversation runs dry in minutes, and it's funny because when they were in their younger teens, they could talk for hours on end.

He sighs, the sleeve of his jacket rising as he places his arm on the back of the couch.

She sees it, a bright flash of color, followed by a glint of recognition.

"Hey," she says, "you still have that?"

He looks around because it's been so long he doesn't know what she's talking about.

"Have what?"

She points at his wrist and he glances down.

A rainbow colored bracelet.

"Oh yeah, I found it in my drawer, I don't remember where it's from, but I think it makes me look sensitive you know, more in tune with my feelings."

It's a sharp pang in her chest but she ignores it.

"Yeah, I can see that. But you don't need _that_ to make you more sensitive, you always did cry when I beat you in races."

He smirks, "Well, nice to see you haven't changed much."

It's an eye roll and a flip of the hair. She doesn't care. At least, she can make it look that way. Wasn't that the whole point of being an actress?

Sonny walks in and suddenly Tawni doesn't even exist.

"Wow Sonny, you look great."

"Thanks."

She giggles and grins sheepishly because it's Chad complimenting her.

They walk out and Sonny says a "bye Tawni" because she was so damn nice that way.

She watches them, their hands swinging side by side until Chad tentatively grabs her hand and she can see a red blush creeping up the back of his neck.

Tawni doesn't get everything.

Far from it.

-

They're at a nice restaurant and Sonny's going on about some Christmas skit they're going to do on So Random and he's not paying attention because he's distracted by her. Her wavy brown hair and her glittery eyes; how is a guy supposed to concentrate on anything else?

She says something about the North Pole and it registers in his mind.

It's a faint memory of child hood, of a broken promise of forever, a whip of blonde hair and a girl in a pretty blue dress.

He's taken through early adolescent years full of heart breaks and ice cream and being there for each other, "forever" like they had promised.

Chad can see now, the other girl in the room when Sonny was there. The girl in the new dress or with the new haircut, face blank because she always hated showing what emotion she had.

Except for her eyes.

Chad always used to think they were the prettiest eyes he'd ever seen. Green like freshly mowed grass and summer time fun, green like the days they spent laying in the grass outside, lazily flicking away bugs and tugging the tips off stalks of grass.

He can see her eyes now, picture them in his mind, and he sees a flicker of something in their depths, jealousy, hurt? He tries to picture the rest of her face but it's fuzzy like a camera that hasn't been put in focus yet.

All of the sudden, everything is weird.

He's here with Sonny and she's just as beautiful as ever.

But, all he can think about is blonde hair, Coco Mocha Coco, and a rainbow colored bracelet whose threads are slowly falling apart.


End file.
